1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to sensors providing input to power measurement systems, and more specifically to a non-contact current sensor that includes multiple semiconductor magnetic field sensors and/or voltage sensors that can be used to detect characteristics of currents flowing through, and/or electrical potentials on, multiple conductors in a cable.
2. Description of Related Art
A need to measure power consumption in AC line powered systems is increasing due to a focus on energy efficiency for both commercial and residential locations. In order to provide accurate measurements, the characteristics of the load must be taken into account along with the current drawn by the load. Information about the electrical potentials on conductors, i.e., the power line voltages, including magnitudes and/or phase, are also useful for determining power factor and thus actual power transfer to a load.
Appliances and other devices are typically provided electrical power through multiple conductor cables both in wall-plug applications and in wiring systems that use non-metallic (NM) sheathed electrical cable.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a sensor that can provide current draw information from a cable carrying AC line current to an appliance or other device.